[reviews] afe094lcd
steve brand: looking into the other

"Looking Into the Other" is a heady sometimes expansive, some ominous journey into tribal and ritual ambience utilizing bells, synths, flute, fiddle, various percussive elements, rattles and field recordings to create these involving sonic rituals and dramatic and evocative sound worlds.

Most of the six tracks running around the just under or just over the 10 minute mark and drifting from rich, mysterious and harmonic synth dwells peppered with dramatic percussive elements and under lit by bird song and lulling environmental sound. To haunted, eerier flute hums and wails, to closing in and chilling percussive drones elements and bad luck hazes of rhythm.

The tracks conjure up landscapes of vast overgrown ornate stone temples, weaved by vine and overshadowed by dense leaf cover. Sunsets over cooling deserts as robed figures gather to begin scoring in the sands with strange marks and symbols to prepare for upcoming ceremonies.
Awaking in clanking and sinister moss weaved bonze corridors, where the walls are seemingly alive with strange voices and darting eyes.

Brand clearly has a great understanding of building tension, wonder and mysteries with-in sound and he never sounds contrived or hollow. It's all packaged in a four colour folder fittingly illustrated with cave markings and strange close ups fleshy grass storks. All in all a highly enjoyable, atmospheric and immersive listening experience primed perfect for trips with-in your head to other lands and realities.

[Roger Batty]